ROOTS & WINGS

42. ROOT: Großmama's Hühnerfrikassee (Chicken fricassee)

Do you know these days when out of the blue loneliness, sadness and longing strike, and you wanna go back to a time and day when they weren't a thing yet?

Like when you sit in front of an open box with Christmassy stuff and think , and wanna kick it outta the house? When the day is grey and cold and dark, and you have to switch on the lights at 2 PM already? When you know that your friends are with their families at Adventskaffee right now – and no one will come for you?

This happened to me on First Advent (Nov 30), shortly after my dad's ninth death day on the 28th (and before the tenth Christmas without him).

I dunno about you, BUT: a lot of us either order our fave soul food OR retreat to the kitchen to make it ourselves in such a situation. => =>

It is bizarre that I make this one because this dish is not is associated with DAD, but with my Großmama, who – like many German Omas – cooked it only for the holidays respectively special occasions, like birthday, wedding day, etc. Therefore, it's a so-called "Oma-dish" as only grandmothers cook it nowadays anymore (and they are dying out!) Not even my mom did, although she she lived in the right time for this being a culinary staple, and learned cooking from Großmama. BUT: you need PATIENCE, and ATTENTION, for this one, and these she lacked gravely. Thank God I don't.

I actually had Großmama's chicken fricassee the last Christmas before she died in February 2010... and since then NEVER have had ANY intention to either eat or make it.

Until November 30, 2025.

The brain... no, MY brain, is a weird shit, for sure.

Also, guys, when you read the ingredients, you won't be impressed, BUT: what they, time, and EVERY bloody pot(/sieve/tupper box) in your kitchen can do, is bloody AMAZING.

This is FINEST soul food and worth EVERY darn minute. Basta.

It even soothes Grinchiness.

Und jetzt ab in die Küche!




Serves: 4 For 8 or 12 people, DOUBLE / TRIPLE ingredients

Prep Time: +/– 3 hrs

Degree of Difficulty: Easy EXCEPT for the roux – that's TRICKY. See below.




WE NEED


3-4 OR 800 gr / 1.75 lb. chicken breast filets In case you wonder: at least organic chickens are normal-sized in Europe = about half the size than in conventional keeping / the US. Two of them = this amount of chest meat.


BROTH

800 ml / 3 US cups 2.75 US fl.oz. chicken/poultry stock Instant, with the SHORTEST ingredients list => LESS health-degenerating additives.
1 red onion
1 bunch soup greens Usually: 1 onion, 1-2 carrots, 1/8-1/4 knob celery, probably some herbs
3-4 bayleaves
1/2 l / 2 US cups 1 US fl.oz. water


FRIKASSEE

3 tbsp butter
5-6 tbsp flour
300 g / 10.6 oz. cream
100 gr / 3.5 oz. peas FROZEN
1-2 carrots

1/2 glass asparagus tips This is a little TRICKY as => different sizes. I took the smallest available glass with 110 gr / 4 oz. DRAINED NET weight... and used all asparagus. It didn't take away from the Gesamtkunstwerk

1 tbsp Worcester sauce
salt
pepper
parsley


ACCOMPINAMENT

(brown) rice




WE DO


1. Roughly chop onion + soup greens and fill them into a middle-sized pot with the chicken/poultry stock + water. Bring them to the boil then simmer them on middle heat, adding the bayleaves... and the chicken filets which you slowly cook for 20 minutes. Afterwards, remove the meat from the pot and put it aside. Pass the broth through a sieve.

TIP: keep the soup greens for making a leftover soup/stew with other vegs wilting in the fridge, adding them LAST, as they're already cooked.






2. For the fricassee, finely cube the carrot(s) and blanch them in a small pot for 2-3 minutes, fishing them out of the water with a skimmer and dropping them into a bowl with iced water afterwards so they stop them from cooking further. Decant the ice water after a few minutes. Also, cut the asparagus tips into (small) pieces.


3. In a BIG pot, melt the butter and – under constant stirring – add the flour to make a roux. Really stir LIKE CRAZY – I thought I did, and YET burned part of the pot/roux Thank God I noticed it early and could remove the burned part. Then, ladle the broth – about 800 ml / 3 US cups 2.75 US fl.oz. – into the roux, while continue stirring so the former combines with the latter. I measured the broth in a jug. Keep remaining broth for that leftover stew Keep it, like the soup greens, in a tupper box






4. Add the cream and bring it to the boil, then let the sauce thicken on low(est) heat. When it gets TOO thick, add some more broth – sorry, NO specification here. You gotta FEEL it.


5. Pluck / Pull the chicken filets into fine strips. Best with fork + knife. It should be easy as by the slow cooking it's so tender it almost falls apart when you just look at it.




Add it to the fricassee together with the peas, carrot(s) + asparagus and simmer for another 5 minutes.



6. If you fancy it, chop the parsley before seasoning the fricassee with Worcester, salt + pepper and serving it with the parsley on top.


7. As accompaniment, serve (brown) rice. At least that's the classic.


Guten Hunger & Wohl bekomm's.